The evening was cold. The stars and the moon were not visible. The woods was unusually dark tonight. A chilly breeze brushed on her bare arms. She regretted of not taking her light jacket tonight. She regretted of going into the woods this late. Well, she wrestled with the ideas of going and not going to the cabin earlier that day. After spending the whole morning contemplating, she just decided to spend the night there. She did not have time to regret anything. She looked at her wristwatch. Her hand was shaking because of the cold breeze. It was almost ten o’clock in the evening. She scampered uphill in a hurry for another twenty minutes before she reached the old log cabin on top of the hill.
When she reached the clearing, she saw that the lights in the cabin were on. Her childhood friend, Joseph, must be already there. She felt guilty for inviting him abruptly today. It was fortunate that Joseph had no plans this weekend and agreed to come with her to spend time with nature.
Joseph was like a big brother to her. They met on a camping trip one summer when she was only six years old. He was eight years old that time. From then on, they bonded and had this “non-blood sibling” relationship. He became a real sibling to her since she did not have any.
He was only an hour away from the mountain where the old log cabin was. Her place was about two to three hours away that’s why she hiked up the mountain at around six o’clock in the evening. The hike took almost four hours for her since it was unusually dark tonight.
She knocked on the cabin door while trying to keep herself warm by rubbing her arms. Her head lamp needed to be recharged. "What’s keeping him so long to open the goddamn door,” she whispered.
The door opened and Joseph was about to tell her something but she went straight inside the cabin. She was irritated and about to confront him when she saw another guy sitting straight up on the couch near the fireplace.
She looked at Joseph with a questioning look. He just shrugged and led her to the middle of the room. The cabin was not that big but big enough to accommodate three to four people. The downstairs had a kitchen and a dining room near the back door, a fireplace at the other side of the room, a couch in front of it and a bathroom near the stairs. The second floor had two bedrooms and a bathroom.
She cautiously put her bag down and spoke to the outsider. “Hi, I’m Amanda. I believe you’ve met Joseph. My family owns this cabin. May I ask for your name please?”
The young man turned to look at her but kept silent for a few minutes. He looked about their age but there’s something off about him. He seemed alert and cautious. He smiled and reached out his hands. “My name’s Peter. Joseph found me freezing outside the cabin. I think I lost my way. I was supposed to be going down the mountain but I dropped my GPS and found this place instead.”
“Oh, I see,” Amanda said. “Did you two eat dinner already,” asking her two companions.
“Yes,” Joseph said. “I warmed the soup I bought from the restaurant in town. We still have chicken and a loaf of bread if you want some of them too.”
She nodded and waited for Joseph to bring the food for her. She sat on the carpet and turned to Peter again. “Where do you live?”
Peter looked at her with those suspicious eyes. “I live in the town three miles from here.”
“Have you been hiking this mountain before?”
“Yes.”
Amanda gave him a questioning look. “Then, why did you get lost and ended up in this cabin?”
He looked at her. She could see the he was being careful but he just smiled and said, “I am not really great with directions. I always rely on my GPS.” He laughed. The kind of laugh that a person needed to forced out to avoid being awkward. And suspicious.
Joseph came back with a huge tray of chicken, bread and a big bowl of soup. She gave him a grateful smile then went back to Peter while eating her dinner.
She was about to say something when Peter asked them a question which haunted her until she fell asleep. “Do you have any weird experiences in this mountain before?”
Joseph gave out a nervous laugh and asked, “What do you mean, bro?”
Peter looked at him for a full half-minute before he removed his gaze and looked at the fire again. He seemed to be in this state since she arrived.
Amanda put down her chicken and said, “I don’t remember having weird experiences here with my parents. We just stayed here almost every weekend. Well, my dad had one rule only when we were always here, though.” She remembered suddenly the one weird rule that her dad always tell her and her mom.
Peter suddenly looked interested and asked, “What is that?”
She looked at him in the eye and said, “Do not go out in the evening no matter what you hear.” She felt a chill in her spine when she said that. She did not know why but she shivered and continued eating the soup to keep her warm.
Joseph smirked and said, “Really, Amanda? Maybe your dad just wanted to scare you since you’re in the woods. You know, to keep your imagination alive and kicking during those days so you can consider your time here with your dad a memorable one.”
Peter looked at him. “Do you really think that he said that just to scare his daughter?”
Peter looked away. There was something in the words when he said it. She could not put a finger on what she was feeling at that moment but she knew it was not pleasant.
She finished her dinner quietly and told them that she was going to sleep since she was exhausted after a long hike that evening. While she was going upstairs, Peter warned her, “Do not open the windows and the doors even when you hear something or someone calling for help.”
He looked out of the window and continued, “The moon and the stars cannot be seen tonight, so beware.” Peter then looked at her.
She was paralyzed in the middle of the staircase when she heard Peter’s warning. It was a very familiar one. A warning that she would never forget since that night her dad warned them about not going out. She looked back at Peter and forced a small smile. She continued to go upstairs to her room and locked herself in.
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